Zaanse Schans day trips from Amsterdam

Amsterdam is an exciting city, with a unique aesthetic and lots of interesting places to see.

But why don't you take advantage of this trip to Holland to visit other places in the country? Don't hesitate and embark on an adventure to the beautiful Dutch countryside.

Windmills, cheese dairies, clog workshops, tea houses, lakes, beautiful flowery landscapes... If you want to discover the treasures of rural Holland, the best option is to take a day trip to Zaanse Schans, Edam, Volendam and Marken by bus. The first stop on this tour is Zaanse Schans, a village on the banks of the river Zaan, famous for its windmills.

If you want to discover what life was like in Holland during the 17th and 18th centuries, a stroll through this little village in the Dutch countryside is a good way to do so. Get your camera ready because its bucolic landscape seems inspired by a fairy tale and you will want to take pictures non-stop.

The windmills by the river are the main attraction of Zaanse Schans. The guide explained to us that this region became the first industrial region of the country in the 17th century with more than 600 windmills that were built to produce oils, dyes, paint, wooden boards and to grind spices.

If you want to take advantage of your day out of Amsterdam to get the most of the Dutch countryside, you can complete your excursion to Zaanse Schans with a visit to Edam, Volendam and Marken or even with a trip to the tulip gardens of Keukenhof.

Whichever option you choose, you will have the opportunity to get to know the country much better and you can take advantage of the proximity of the capital to incredible natural sites.

What does a tour to Zaanse Schans, Edam, Volendam and Marken include?

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What to bring?

Traveling with luggage?

Don't worry, during the tour you can leave it on the bus. When you return to Amsterdam the driver parks right next to Central Station so you can take the train to the airport or to your next destination.

May to October is the best time to travel to Amsterdam or any other part of the country.

The next stop on this tour of the Dutch countryside is Edam, and when talking about this little town one cannot help but think of its cheese. In the 17th century, Holland was already exporting this famous product and since then it has been going to all corners of the world for centuries.

This outing gives us the opportunity to visit its famous traditional cheese market, which has been in operation since the Middle Ages and in summer they make historical recreations so that tourists can see how it was at that time. Visiting the Edam cheese market with a guide is a very interesting experience that keeps a part of the city's history alive.

But Edam is more than just rich cheese. It is a beautiful town located 20 kilometers from Amsterdam in an area called Laag Holland that looks like something out of a fairy tale.

Strolling through the old town of this typical village on the shores of Lake IJsselmeer you will find small shopping streets, cute little tea houses along the canal and cozy terraces where you can have a drink. Some of its main monuments are the church of St. Nicholas, the Town Hall, the Carillon of the sixteenth century or the Edam Museum.

Located between Edam and Marken, this little fishing village just 20 minutes from Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful and authentic of the Dutch countryside thanks to its beautiful harbor, its narrow streets and colorful houses.

Therefore, the best way to discover Volendam is on foot. The guide will lead you through amazing places so that you can take beautiful pictures of the tour while she explains the history of Volendam and its connection to the sea.

During the tour you will see places like the Doolhof and the Dijk, two old quarters full of fishermen's houses in a maze of narrow, highly decorated streets and canals, which have fascinated many artists for centuries.

You will also see sites such as the dyke of the fishing port, its beautiful churches, its stores... and you will discover the origins of this town as the port of Edam.

But before the route through the town we visited a traditional cheese factory where they explained to us how they make typical cheeses of the region such as Gouda or Edam and at the end we were treated to a free tasting of traditional products that were delicious. It was one of the most enjoyable moments of the day because I love this kind of excursions.

Then we were taken to a traditional clog workshop or "klompen" as they are called in Dutch. Like tulips or windmills, these wooden shoes are another national icon of the Netherlands. During the visit the master clog maker will show you how they are made and some of his most striking creations. I've never seen anything like it before and it's quite a laborious and curious handicraft process, to be honest. Worth seeing!

On the other side of the IJsselmeer lake, just in front of Volendam, is Marken, an island that was separated from mainland Holland in the 13th century because of a storm.

One of the things that struck us most about this town are its wooden houses on earthen and artificial mounds called "terpen". They are unique in the world! The guide explained to us that they were built this way to avoid the damage caused by rain and floods, which are very frequent in this area.

It is amazing to see the great ingenuity of those people to coexist with the tides even though the water was gradually gaining ground to the village. For centuries, the population of Marken lived isolated and it was not until 1957 when a dike was built that ended the floods and allowed to turn it into a peninsula by connecting it to the mainland.

When you enter Marken you will realize that this place exudes charm everywhere, no wonder that the film director Tim Burton was inspired by it for his film "Big Fish".

Strolling through its streets and looking closely at the fishermen's cottages or Protestant churches gives the feeling of walking through a village-museum that has managed to maintain its authenticity despite the passage of time. It's like taking a trip back in time to the Dutch Golden Age!

A trip to Amsterdam is a good occasion to take an excursion outside the city and see other places in a single day, right?

In the article The best excursions from Amsterdam you will find some very cool proposals to complete your trip to the capital of Holland. Don't miss it!